


By The Light of Stars: A Christmas Surprise

by frickfrackpaddywack



Series: Space Loving [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Christmas Fluff, Cute Kids, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Feels, Other, Short & Sweet, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28153617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frickfrackpaddywack/pseuds/frickfrackpaddywack
Summary: Charlie gets a surprise from his wonderful mates, and adorable children.
Relationships: Original Male Character(s)/Original Male Character
Series: Space Loving [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062788
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	By The Light of Stars: A Christmas Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a short little one shot holiday special for By the Light of Stars! If you haven't read that, I would highly encourage it otherwise this won't have much meaning to it.
> 
> Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Charlie had no idea what his mates were up to, but he was going to lose it if they didn’t stop whatever it was. Everytime he walked into the room for the last week they would stop whatever they were doing, hiding their data pads, or cutting off communications with whoever they were talking about, always looking away at the last second. He didn’t mean to be, but he was starting to get angry about it. He had even tried to be sneaky, and get a peek at what they were doing, or overhear a conversation, but they were both too quick - likely thanks to Gatz’s telepathy. More than once Mee-Ro had teleported out of the room the second he walked in. 

He was trying not to dwell on it by spending time with the twins. The kids were all growing so fast, and at different rates too. Gatz’s own people matured quickly, and then stayed as young adults for a very long time. Mee-Ro’s people were similar, though they had a slightly shorter life span generally. Charlie had no idea what his modified body would do. The twins, who had the most human in them, were aging the slowest, though not by much. It had only been a year, he thought anyway, since the kids had been born, and the twins were easily the equivalent to five year olds back on earth, only annoyingly smarter. They had inherited both Gatz’s telepathy, and Mee-Ro’s teleportation. Getting them to bed was a nightmare. 

“Daddy! Look what I made at school today!” Kippin, one of the twins said.

“Oh? Let me see,” Charlie said, reaching out for the drawing Kippin had made.

“Me too, Daddy?” Kit, the other twin, asked.

“Yes, you too. Let me see your beautiful art!” Charliee told them both, pulling them both into his lap. Since all the kids were in school now, he didn’t have to spend all day on the suppressant, but he always took it right before they got home. Gatz had managed to get a more effective one manufactured, so it lasted longer, which allowed him more time to be with the kids. He had also insisted on not being naked all the time. Sure, Mee-Ro and Gatz didn’t wear clothes, but their genitals weren’t on display either.

“Look! I drew you, and Papa, and Father!” Kippin said.

“So you did! You even got my purple eyes in there. You did a great job!” he said, pointing out the little purple circles on his face. “And what did you draw, Kit?” Charlie looked at his drawing, and saw that it was of all his siblings. “Oh! There’s you and Kippin,” he said, pointing them out. “I especially like your cute little tentacle whiskers. You also did a great job!”

Kit’s eyes lit up at the praise. He was much more shy than Kippin, and often sought out words of praise. Kippin did too, but he didn’t seem to need it quite as much. It was amazing that they looked almost identical, but were so very different.

“Hm, I don’t suppose either of you know what Papa and Father are up to, do you?” he asked. The twins shared a look, and he knew they were talking telepathically to each other. They always did that when they didn’t want him to know something.

“No, Daddy,” they both said at the same time. Charlie sighed. Of course they wouldn’t tell him. He shouldn’t do that to them anyway, asking them to share something that was pretty obviously supposed to be a secret.

“Alright. Should we go get a snack then?” he asked, changing the topic.

“Yeah! I want fishies!” Kippin said. He and Mee-Ro had the same favourite dish, and no matter how many times he was told the proper name for it, Kippin always called it fishies because of Charlie.

“I think we have some left over from supper last night. What about you Kit?” he asked, scooping them both into his arms.

“Hm,” Kit said, thinking. “Fruit?” 

“I think I can manage that. Fruit and fishies,” Charlies said.

They wandered into the kitchen. They had ended up moving not long after the kids were hatched, and now they had an enormous kitchen. Charlie set them both down on the counter, and got out their snacks.

As they sat at the counter, eating, the front door slid open. Charlie looked up and smiled as Mee-Ro came in, looking tired but pleased. He often looked tired lately, and it just added to the mystery for Charlie. What were they up to? Charlie left his seat, and dashed across the room to hug him, burying his face in his fur. 

“Welcome home, Master,” Charlie whispered. He felt Mee-Ro shiver, a happy purr escaping him.

“It is good to be home, my love,” Mee-Ro said. “Gatz should be returning soon as well. I have something for you,” he added, pulling back a bit. His tail was wrapped around a small bag, and he placed it in Charlie’s hands. 

“Can I open it?” Charlie asked, feeling a small spike of excitement and nerves. Mee-Ro’s gifts could either be very sweet or very naughty, but either way they were fun.

“Please do,” Mee-Ro said, smiling.

Charlie undid the tie on the bag, and inside was, to his mind anyway, a cookie. Charlie smelled it, and he smiled. It smelled almost like cinnamon and cloves, though with that hint of alieness that came with anything new he ate now. Even then, the scent reminded him of Christmas back home.

“Can I eat it?” he asked. His mouth was already watering.

“I hope so,” Mee-Ro laughed. “I believe it should be compatible with your physiology.”

Charlie grinned, and pressed a kiss to Mee-Ro’s cheek, before taking a large bite. Flavour filled his mouth, dancing across his tongue. It was delicious, and also tasted like Christmas cookies from back home. He felt a small swell of homesickness. He missed his family...and the holidays. He had been thinking about them a lot lately, especially with the kids now. He wanted them to have those sorts of good memories too.

“Is it good?” Mee-Ro asked.

“It’s very good,” Charlie said, swallowing the cookie Long with his emotions. He was about to say something more, when he felt a wave of exhaustion. He stumbled into Mee-Ro, who caught him. “I uh...I feel kinda…” he tried, but the words weren’t coming to him.

“You look tired, my love. Come, let me put you to bed,” Mee-Ro said. Charlie nodded. He hoped he wasn’t having a bad reaction to the cookie. Mee-Ro picked him up with his tail, and carried him to their room, and laid Charlie on the bed. “Sleep now, Charlie,” he whispered, licking a stripe across Charlie’s face. Sleep took him within moments.

  
  


Charlie awoke to the sound of laughter, and feeling very warm. He blinked his eyes open, and was confused when he was staring up at a wooden ceiling, rather than the metal one of their home on the space station. He started to panic, when Kippin jumped on him.

“You’re awake!” Kippin said, laughing.

“Kippin - what - where...where are we?” Charlie asked. He looked around, and he was in an enormous bed, all of the kids piled on, some dozing, but most of them were awake watching him. “Uh…” His brain couldn’t quite process it all.

“Father! Daddy is awake!” Elis yelled. 

Before Charlie could ask anything more, Gatz came floating in.

“ _ Charlie! You are awake! Excellent!” _ his voice said inside Charlie’s head.

“Come on Daddy!” Ama said, tugging on his arm.

“Gatz, what’s going on? Where are we?” Charlie asked as he was pulled from the bed. He was handed a very fuzzy robe, and he slid it on, wrapping it around himself. Now that he was out from under the blankets, the air was cold.

“ _ We have worked very hard, so we hope you are pleased, Charlie,” _ Gatz said.

Charlie was practically dragged from the room, and he noticed the kids were all dressed up, some in pjs, and some in scarves and hats. They were the sort of things he would have seen back on Earth. Where had they gotten them? How did they even know about them? Charlie followed them out of the room, and down a hallway. He gasped as the hallway opened into a large room, and there, before a window that had snow outside of it, was what could only be described as a Christmas tree. It was a blueish green, and while not a pine it was close enough. Besides, the decorations, and the wrapped presents beneath it painted a clear picture of what it was meant to be.

“Gatz - how?” Charlie asked, his eyes filling with tears. He turned to his mate, and grabbed one of his large tentacles, and hugged it. He felt his other tentacles come up to surround him, holding him. Mee-Ro appeared then and he had a Santa hat on his head, and a red scarf around his neck.

“Charlie! Do you like it? Oh! Wait, I forgot the music!” Mee-Ro said. He pushed a button on a remote, and the room filled with songs Charlie had heard all his life, and he recognized the voices of his family, singing them. The words were a bit wrong, but the tune was there.

“How did you...how is this possible?” Charlie asked, already crying from how full of love he felt for his wonderful family.

“ _ You were thinking about it a lot,”  _ Gatz said. Of course, he would have seen his thoughts. He simply couldn’t help himself, his silly mate. Charlie laughed.

“But how?” he asked again. 

“It is not the first time we have contacted your home planet after all. I may have gotten help from your friend’s bonded one. She was most helpful,” Mee-Ro said. 

“You sneaky...wonderful...perfect...I love all of you so much,” Charlie said, trying and failing to hold his emotions in. He was sobbing. Peter’s wife, Lisa, had helped them to surprise him.

“Is Daddy okay??” Kit asked, clinging to Charlie’s hand.

“ _ He is doing very well. Sometimes humans become so happy they cry, _ ” Gatz said. Charlie laughed. That was right. He was so happy he couldn’t contain it all.

“Merry Crease-miss, Charlie,” Mee-Ro said. “Did I say it right?” he asked. 

“Sounds perfect to me,” Charlie said, grinning at his mate. 

_ “We were not able to perfectly replicate all of your traditions due to not being able to acquire the proper supplies, however I believe our substitutions will be more than satisfactory,”  _ Gatz said.

“It’s already perfect. Don’t you worry,” Charlie said, kissing him, and then Mee-Ro. “Did all of you know about this?” he asked. The kids all nodded. Some looked proud to have been able to have kept the secret while others looked a bit sheepish at having kept something from him. Charlie looked out the window at the snow. “Where are we, by the way?” he asked.

“A small planet in the Forend system. It is during their snowy season. We bought some land and built a cabin,” Mee-Ro Explained.

“This is what you’ve all been working on for all these weeks?” Charlie asked, the pieces falling into place at last. No wonder they had looked tired. This must have taken forever.

“ _ We do apologize for the extended secrecy, but it would not have been a good surprise if we had told you sooner, _ ” Gatz said. Charlie noted he was glowing so brightly in his happiness that it was hard to tell the colour.

“And the cookie was to put me to sleep so I could wake up here, huh?” he said, shaking his head. His mates really were unbelievable. “How did I get so lucky, hm?”

Gatz and Mee-Ro exchanged a look, and Charlie wondered what that was all about when Gatz finally spoke.

_ “No Charlie. It is we who are ‘lucky’. You helped bring us together, have been a love and support to us both, and have given us eleven incredible children, who are all the sweeter for having you as a parent. You...you are precious to all of us,”  _ Gatz said.  _ “This is a small thing in comparison.” _

“Indeed. You are worth all the sleepless nights this took,” Mee-Ro agreed. Charlie couldn’t stop smiling. He tried to find the right words to say, but everything seemed to fall short. 

“Thank you,” he said, settling on that.

“Dad, what are some of your earth traditions? Won’t you share them with us?” Jygg asked, his tentacles curling in curiosity, his head a bright purple.

“Ha, how about...we have some breakfast, and then we can go outside and I’ll show you how we used to play in the snow?” Charlie suggested. He was struggling to stop the happy tears, and needed a moment to compose himself still.

“Aww, do we have to eat first? I want to play!” Kippin said.

“Yes,” Mee-Ro interjected, and that was the end of that discussion. “Breakfast is very important for your growing bodies, and Daddy needs food. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday,” he said.

The kids were all smart enough not to grumble, or they’d find themselves in time out before they had a chance to blink. Charlie felt a small trill of laughter in his mind, and could tell that Gatz was happy too from the way his colouring kept shifting between orange and yellow and pink. Over their year together they had all learned how to cook, though Charlie was probably the best at it. He didn’t mind letting his mates take over for the day though. Charlie hummed along with the Christmas music they had made for him - when they’d had time to record it he had no idea. His kids were all gathered around the table, chatting and laughing, and excitedly whispering to each other. He felt almost bad that he hadn’t gotten to get everyone a present, but then he hadn’t known this was happening. He’d have to spoil everyone extra hard on their hatching day celebration.

Gatz was floating about the kitchen, and not so helpfully pointing things out to Mee-Ro, who Charlie could tell was getting annoyed by his unintentional micromanaging. 

“Gatz, I would like a hug please,” Charlie said, throwing his arms out to receive it. Gatz floated around the table, and wrapped his many tentacles around Charlie, and he sighed as he nuzzled against him. He shot a look at Mee-Ro who gave him a small, appreciative smile, and then he closed his eyes, and let his mate hold him.

_ “Is everything alright, Charlie?” _ Gatz asked, his voice soft and gentle within his mind.

“Everything is perfect. I can’t even tell you how much this means to me,” he said.

Before he knew it food was on the table, and they all gathered and began to eat. Charlie’s eyes lit up as he dug in. 

“This...this tastes like bacon…” he said, stunned. It was maybe even better.

“Aha! I knew I had gotten it right,” Mee-Ro said, looking smug, but also pleased.

“ _ Lisa described it most excellently then,” _ Gatz said.

Charlie felt a pang of sorrow as he thought about Lisa, Peter’s wife. He hoped she was doing well. He would have liked to have talked to her one more time. The laughter of his children pulled him from the sadness, and back into the moment. The food was wonderful, and he was surrounded by his family, and he let that fill him with warmth, chasing away thoughts of the past.

After breakfast the kids wanted to play outside.

“We got you some clothing for the weather,” Mee-Ro said, handing him one of the packages from beneath the tree. Charlie opened it, and inside was everything he would need to stay warm. He felt excitement bubbling inside him as he got dressed. It was strange wearing clothes. He had only really worn loose robes since they’d had the kids, and before that he had been naked. It felt almost constricting to have form fitting clothing on. He pulled on socks, and boots, tucking his pants in, and then threw on his new jacket, and a hat and mittens. He felt like he was back on earth, getting ready to go out. All the kids were raring to go by the time he was done dressing.

“Hurry Daddy!” three of them called out at once. Charlie laughed, and ran out into the snow with them all. The sky was clear and a very soft periwinkle, that looked beautiful with all the white snow. He breathed in the cold air, letting it fill his lungs, feeling the way it stung his cheeks. He had missed this. Being off-world, and living in a space station was fine, but there was something nice about breathing fresh air, and feeling air on your skin, and having a sky above and a planet beneath your feet.

Charlie flopped back in the snow, and stared up at the sky. It was different from Earth’s, but just as beautiful. He started to move his arms and legs back and forth to make a snow angel. The kids all watched in fascination at what he was doing. When he stood up, there was the shape he had made. He laughed out loud, feeling silly and so happy. He hadn’t played in the snow like this in years.

“What’s that, Daddy?” Kit asked softly.

“It’s a snow angel,” Charlie explained. “Back on my world we make them in the snow. It’s fun!” 

The kids all seemed to contemplate that, and before he knew it they were all flopped in the snow, moving about, trying to replicate what he had done. Of course each one was different from his own, each unique, some with multiple ‘wings’, depending on how many appendages the child had.

“Mine looks different,” Ace said, frowning. Charlie smiled at her, and ruffled her fur.

“Yes, and isn’t it great? They’re all different, all unique, and wonderful - just like all of you,” he told them. “Now, who wants to build a snowman?” he asked, grinning.

“Snow...man?” Jygg asked.

“Yeah! You build a person out of snow! Traditionally it’s made of three balls of snow -” Charlie explained, starting to form a ball. “You roll it, and then you stack the next ball on top of the first one.” He rolled out the first ball, and then started the second. Soon he had a pretty good snowman, if he did say so himself. He saw a tree next to the cabin and grabbed some fallen branches, and made arms, and then went into the cabin, and looked through the fridge for something carrot-like for the nose. There was vegetable that was similar in appearance, save for the colour - it was pink. He grabbed one, and stuck it into the face for the nose, and grabbed some rocks for the eyes.

“There we go. A snowman!” Charlie said, presenting his creation to the kids. “Of course they don’t have to look like this. They can look however you’d like,” he told them. The kids were all excited, and they seemed to break into teams to make snowmen. Kippin and Kit were already rolling a ball that was bigger than them. Fortunately one of the bigger kids, Lo, saw them struggling, and went over to help. Charlie debated if he should introduce snowball fights, but thought better of it. The last thing he wanted was one of his children crying because they got hurt.

Elis and Ama had a multi-tentacled snowman that was double the size of Charlie’s own snowman. Of course, all the kids who could float had a height advantage. Soon their front yard area was covered in snow creations. Charlie wished he had a camera, though he thought he might never forget this Christmas for as long as he lived.

“Later I’ll teach you about sledding,” he told them. “For now though I think we all need to go warm up for a bit,” he said. Some of the kids were shivering which meant it was time to go in.

When they went inside the scent of food was filling the cabin. Charlie found Gatz in the kitchen with Mee-Ro, cooking up a storm. Charlie went and changed, happy to be almost naked once more. He drapped himself across Mee-Ro’s back, as he watched his mates cooking.

“Next time we go outside to play, you two need to come too,” Charlie insisted.

“We have the whole week to play,” Mee-Ro told him.

“We’re spending more than just today?” Charlie asked, excited at the prospect.

“ _ Indeed. Mee-Mee thought it would be a pleasant break for all of us, and give us time together as a family,” _ Gatz said. 

Charlie squeezed Mee-Ro in a hug , unable to keep the grin from his face. His mates were truly the sweetest, most thoughtful beings in the entire universe. He would have to think of something nice to do for them in the future, but for right then, he was happy being spoiled. 

“Food will still require several hours. Should we unwrap presents?” Mee-Ro asked.

“Yeah!” Charlie said, as the kids bounded into the kitchen.

“Did someone say presents?” Ace asked. “Is it time now?”

“It is!” Charlie cheered. He was about to move off of Mee-Ro’s back, but he was held in place by his tail, and carried into the living area where the tree and presents were. Gatz floated in after them, sinking down next to them as they curled up together on the floor. Charlie sank his fingers into Mee-Ro’s soft fur, and felt Gatz’s tentacles playing in his hair.

The presents were handed out, and he was pleased to see that they had all gotten each other a little something. The kids had mostly gotten each other toys, but they had made a beautifully misshapen scarf for Charlie that was soft to the touch. He just managed to hold in his tears as he wrapped it around his neck. Once the presents were opened, the kids were sent off to play until food was ready.

“ _ There is one more present, Charlie,”  _ Gatz said.

“Oh? I can’t wait!” he said, sitting back. The curtains were drawn, and a projector was set up. He wondered what it could be, when the video started to play. It was Lisa. Her voice filled the room, and he could tell she was sitting at home.

“Hi Charlie! I...I can’t believe this is happening,” she laughed. “Aliens are real...and you’re really out there in space still. I was surprised and pleased to have been contacted by Mee-Ro and Gatz. They wanted to surprise you, so I hope it worked!”

Charlie felt his throat growing tight as he saw her, and heard her. He had never thought he’d ever get to hear her voice again. He was happy to see she was smiling this time.

“So, I wanted to give you a Christmas surprise too,” she said, and she reached out to lower her camera, and there, in her lap, were two beautiful, perfect babies, with dark hair, just like Peter. “I found out about a week after you called that I was pregnant.” Now there were tears in her eyes, just as there were in Charlie’s. “It felt like a miracle, to be able to have them...I know Peter would have loved them. I named one Peter, and the other Charlie,” she said. She picked up one of the babies, and showed him to the screen. “This is Charlie. I hope you don’t mind that I named him after you. I can only hope he’ll grow up to be a great man, just like you,” she said, tears falling down her face.

Charlie couldn’t hold it in, and he started to sob. There were so many emotions, most of them happy, and only a little bit of sad. He wished Peter could have been there with her. Still, he was honoured, and humbled that she would name one of her sons after him. He grinned at the screen as baby Charlie started to fuss a bit. She talked for a bit, telling him about her life, and how she had planted a tree in honour of her husband. She talked about Charlie’s family, how his parents were doing, and so on. By the end Charlie was a ball of emotions, tears, and happiness.

“You know, I’m glad I got to talk to you that day, even if it was brief. I miss Peter so much, but knowing that at least you’re alive because of him brings me peace. These two bring me peace too. I heard that you have some littles ones of your own. Maybe one day our kids will get to meet! Who knows, science keeps advancing after all,” she laughed. “Merry Christmas Charlie. I hope your day is full of love and laughter, and peace,” she said.

The room went dark for a moment before the curtains lifted again. Charlie clung to his mates, crying as emotions filled him. Mee-Ro was licking his hair, as Gatz rubbed over his back. It took several minutes before he could speak again.

“Thank you,” he sobbed. “I’ll never be able to say how much that meant to me, how much all of this, and all of you mean to me.”

“ _ We know, Charlie. You are a most beloved being, and so very precious to us. You have reshaped our lives, and filled them with joy,”  _ Gatz said.

“Merry Crease-miss, Charlie,” Mee-Ro purred. 

“Merry Crease-miss,” Charlie laughed, beaming at them both. He wasn’t sure anyone in the entire universe was more loved than he was. It was by far, the strangest, most wonderful Christmas he had ever had. 

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
